Octavia Girl Vol. 1

Jenna woke up.

There was music playing in her ear. She knew at once that Sardius was playing it for her in lieu of an alarm clock, but it was much nicer than any of the ringtones she remembered from her phone. It was energy music.

“I’m awake,” she said.

“Are you ready?” he asked like a TV sports show host.

Jenna paled. “Ready for what?”

“This is my first morning waking up with you when I’m in charge of your schedule,” he burst like he could give her some of his energy with the very timber of his voice. “I’ve been waiting for this. I would have gotten started sooner, but the right morning hadn’t come yet. Now we’re here and the time is right. You should know right now that one of the reasons I wanted to be your PA was because I wanted to be your trainer.”

Jenna coughed. “My trainer?”

“Yeah. You’re soft, which is very appealing in its own way, but you don’t need to be that soft.”

“Wait a second! Are you talking about putting me on an exercise program?” Jenna asked in alarm.

“Yeah, but it’s not just working out. There’s machinery you’re going to need to learn to operate and tools you need to learn how to use. Yes, you’re going to work out, but so much more.”

“Uh… That’s all well and good, but I’m the kind of girl who can get killed on the track. I’m not athletic. I’m not coordinated. I’m the sort of woman who knits mittens and lets my cat play with the unused yarn. I watched dramas and ate noodles. I had a lovely time, but I only did yoga, not cardio, not weights, and not anything intense,” she sputtered.

“Intense?” he drawled. “You don’t want to do anything intense?”

“Hey! I didn’t choose any of this for myself and I’m scared you’ll drop me straight in the deep end without being sensitive to my place on the fitness scale. Do you even know the exact anatomy of my body and where my tolerance thresholds are likely to be? Human girls are frail.”

He chuckled. “Darling, I know the gravity on this planet is making you feel like you’re weighed down and you’ll never float like a butterfly or sting like a bee, but if you don’t push yourself to get stronger, you could die here. I’m not going to make you do more than you can tolerate safely.”

“That’s not the only thing that’s worrying me!” Jenna squeaked.

Sardius waited for her to continue, but she didn’t answer. Uncomfortable sweat pooled in unexpected places on Jenna’s body.

Sardius made a sound like he was clicking his tongue. “Would it be at all possible for you to drop your inhibitions and just come right out and tell me your concerns?”

Jenna breathed hard. “I’m just a little worried that you’ll make fun of me for… my… my…”

“Softness?” he supplied for her.

“Yeah. I had my laughs on you last night when I teased you about the only perk of your job being that you get to see me naked. Then today, you get to tease me by saying that actually, I’m not that thrilling because I need to get in shape.”

“Oh…” he said slowly. “I’m going to need you to relax, Jenna. This would all have been easier if I hadn’t let it slip that I’m not a mini octopus whispering instructions in your ear. Now that that’s lost, you’re getting a little hung up on my voice and treating me like I’m a person who has something in common with you.”

“You’re saying you don’t?”

“Ah… I’m a person. But the Octavians, whose anatomy has nothing in common with yours, are people. Except, I’ll never meet you in person. I’m in prison. Our relationship can never be more than me supplying you with information and watching out for you from afar. As much as I enjoyed you teasing me that you’d like to see me naked because I really did, you should know that at this moment, I am not teasing you or sexualizing you.”

“What do you mean?” she asked hesitantly.

“This isn’t about that,” he said plainly. “This is about you, Octavia Prime’s gravity, and your job as a diplomat. You cannot turn into a hunchback because you refuse to stand up straight to withstand the gravitational burden that has suddenly been placed on you. And if you don’t do these exercises, that is exactly what will happen. It is easier for other types of Adamis to withstand this level of gravity. Some of them were born on planets as large as Octavia Prime. Some of them have naturally better body arrangements to help them cope. You are vulnerable to becoming someone who eventually needs to be carted around in a wheelchair if you don’t submit to me and do the training package I’ve made for you. Do you understand?”

The way Sardius said, ‘Do you understand?’ was halfway between a drill sergeant on the verge of calling her a maggot, and her grandfather telling her that she had to be brave right before he went into the hospital for the last time. It set the hair on the back of Jenna’s neck upright.

Jenna got out of bed. “What should I wear for these exercises?”

“Nothing,” Sardius answered with a flick of his tongue.

“W-what?” she sputtered incredulously.

He huffed a laugh. “I mean, I’d have a better time if you didn’t wear anything, but ya know. Wear what you like.”

“You switch gears awfully quickly,” she said, popping into her closet, her face aflame. She chose a sports bra and a pair of boy shorts. They weren’t workout clothes exactly, but they were the closest thing she had until more clothes could be ordered for her. She didn’t attempt to cover herself but instead stuck her tongue out at the camera closest to her. It wasn’t like he could do anything to her from that distance anyway.

She returned to the bedroom.

His voice sounded over her earpiece. “If you used to do yoga, can you do an inversion?”

Jenna chose an empty wall, dropped a pillow on the floor next to it, and tried to flip herself onto her head. She had been fairly good at them on Earth, and though her first three attempts were embarrassing, on the fourth try, she got herself up and felt the wall against her feet over her head.

“See how long you can hold it.” Slowly, he began to say more. “You should know that when I see you undress, the camera angles and mirror angles are not what you imagine. The views I get of you are not like a well-directed movie. They’re not like what a skilled photographer would get if he was hiding in the walls. I’m getting security footage. It’s not the same.” He paused, breathing like it was hard to say what he needed to say. “I like that the Octavians have given me this security feature. I want to protect you and not because of those stolen glimpses I get. If anything, those moments are precious because I can block out the orbital security team from getting shots of you. Like Favel, I’m also worried about pictures or footage of you being leaked. I’m also blocking the orbital team from getting pictures of you working out if that helps you to be less self-conscious. If you do what I say, I’ll make you as toned and muscular as a leopard.”

“The gravity here is a total bitch,” Jenna said, feeling so much blood in her head that she had to drop down. Had he really said what she thought he did? Once she regained her senses, she replied to him by saying, “You’re a bigger person than I imagined. But, if you’re so great, why are you a mass-murdering terrorist?”

He smacked his lips. “I can’t talk about that stuff. Even if I wasn’t being recorded, I wouldn’t want to talk about the stuff I’ve done. Why I did those things, for who, or any of it. It’s all out of my head.”

“I’ve got so much blood in my head, I can barely hear you. Could you repeat everything you said while I was upside down?” Jenna said, trying to contain her laughter.

“No. You heard me,” Sardius said, flatly refusing. “The gravity will feel lighter if you work out with me every morning. I’ll get you some supplements better than anything they’ve ever had on Earth to help combat your nutritional deficits. Have you ever considered giving up eating?”

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Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! The next three chapters are Jenna being introduced to her staff. I tried it as one chapter and it was just too long, so I chopped it up. I'm just here to remind you that this isn't a short thing. This is a Space Opera not a Space Over. Hang in there, little space chimps. May the potato chips be with you.